Joseph Plunkett

Joseph Plunkett (21 November 1887-4 May 1916) was a leader of the Irish Volunteers during the 1916 Easter Rising.

Biography
Joseph Plunkett was born in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland on 21 November 1887 to a family of Norman descent, and he was raised in Algeria and England. Plunkett became involved in Irish nationalist youth groups, and he befriended Thomas MacDonagh; the two of them were nationalist poets, and Plunkett and MacDonagh both became early members of the Irish Volunteers. In 1915, he traveled to the German Empire with Irish Republican Brotherhood member Roger Casement, and they received a promise from Germany to send weapons to the IRB in preparation for an uprising. In 1916, the IRB launched the Easter Rising, and Michael Collins served as Plunkett's second-in-command. Plunkett was captured after the uprising was quelled, and he was executed by firing squad on 4 May 1916.